A traditional method of scheduling events is by sending out emails with the details of the event to all the members and waiting for response from each and every member before finalizing the event meeting time and place. The drawback on this type of scheduling system is that a lot of administration is involved in planning the event and sending out formal invitations. Also, the response from each member may be in different formats (for example: disparate operating systems, mail programs etc.) making it difficult to interpret and summarize the responses. Further, each member has limited knowledge about the effect of his inputs on the overall choice making process and there is no aggregated immediate feedback to a member about the event, the current state of the event and current status of other members.
Computer calendars and scheduler application software are widely used by members to plan events (meetings) and to check availability of other members. One function provided by some conventional calendar application is to allow each member to have access to the calendars of other members and view information about what other members have planned on certain days. This information pulled from other members may be helpful for scheduling events. One example of a conventional calendar application is LOTUS ORGANIZER, but there are many more applications with similar features. These applications rely upon each member to keep his/her calendar promptly updated to provide accurate status. The drawback of this application is that the calendar of each member might not be up-to-date or accurate and can result in scheduling conflicts. Further, the calendar of each member is to be maintained as a public document open for access by others within and outside the group to view and schedule, making it difficult for the member to maintain private schedules.
One other calendar and scheduler application is Novell, Inc.'s GROUPWISE that has endeavored to improve upon the appointment and scheduling process but has succeeded in creating complex proprietary system. The drawback with this approach is that it requires custom software or specialized hardware on every computer, and often operates within limited proscribed network environments.
Various other web-based scheduling tools are in use. One such system is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,406 wherein a company-specific network database application is used to send out emails in various formats that automatically update the member's private calendar without permitting others from viewing the private calendar of the member. When the member does not have a private calendar of his own the system creates a new account with a private calendar. The newly created calendar would then be available to the system for automatic update when an event is scheduled. The drawback of this application is that the system is actively involved in communicating with members. The other drawback is that the system creates schedules for members. If members keep other private calendars or in other formats or in other locations, the member will soon have scheduling conflicts in his/her calendar. Yet another drawback is that members are automatically signed into an event and do not have the choice of accepting or rejecting participation in the event. Since the system automatically updates their calendar, they do not have the ability to view the list of members participating in the event.
Another application proposed under U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,045 creates an electronic form containing static and dynamic regions along with network addresses of members and sends it to the server. The server, in turn, forwards the electronic form to the members.
When the members open the email, the dynamic region of the form gets updated with the input from the member using interactive region. This dynamic region asynchronously updates the server with the member's information regarding participation in the scheduled event/meeting. The drawback of this invention among other things is that it does not provide a member visibility to the choices made by other members and the system is actively used in sending out the forms to the members and receiving their feedback.
The prior art in this field of invention falls far short of fulfilling a need for technology that provides more robust way of scheduling events in various computing environment using internet technology without having a member's calendar viewed and manipulated by others or installing software on each recipient's computer. It also falls far short of the ability for various members to view the list of other members participating in the event and the status of other members while making their own decisions for the event.
Also, the prior arts all required a lot of administration in planning an event. The systems were actively involved in managing events and member's involvement. The user had very little to no involvement in the whole planning process. Sometimes each member's actions depended on and affected other member's actions. A lot of communications were exchanged among members. One of the biggest drawbacks was that the information about the event and members were not available in real time.